Computer Hardware Maintenance PDF

Computer Hardware Maintenance LAB Manual CE2130 M.
YOUSUF
COMPUTER HARDWARE
MAINTENANCE
LAB MANUAL 2015
Mohammed Yousuf Uddin

College of Computer Engineering and Science
Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University
Al Kharj. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
m.yousuf@psau.edu.sa
1
Computer Hardware Maintenance LAB Manual CE2130 M.YOUSUF
Table of Content
Experiments TITLE PAGE

NO
Chapter 1 Identification of Components of Desktop PC 3
Chapter 2 Motherboard 13
Chapter 3 Power Supply and Voltage Regulatory Module 25
Chapter 4 Assemble and Disassemble the PC 31
Chapter 5 Micro Processor. 38
Chapter 6 Secondary Storage Devices HDD, SDD 47
Chapter 7 Primary Memory 58
Chapter 8 Installing Windows Operating System 68
Installing Windows Operating System 95
2
Chapter 1
Introduction to Computer and its Components
Objectives
 Understand the functions of computer
 Identify types of computers
 Identify components of Desktop Computer
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Computer
Computer is an electronic and digital device, it take data as input, process it and gives information
as output and save it. Computer is used because it is more efficient1 and effective2. Computer
hardware is accessed through Software (operating System) computer is Extensible3: means we can
add any number of application software to this and extend its functionality. Versatile4: means it is
used in almost all places like hospitals, business, education, Research etc. Computer is not similar
to any other electronic and digital machine but its Versatile and Extensible. Block Diagram of
modern Computer.
Figure 1.1 Block Diagram of Computer
Computer uses many electronic Components which run on Direct Current such as Integrated
circuits, Capacitors, Transistors, Resistors, Buses, Printed Circuit boards.
Computer is Digital it means it process the data stores the data in the form of binary digits (0,1)
which are represented in the form of electric voltages 0= -Negative Current 1= + positive voltages.
Input is done through input devices like Keyboard, Mouse, and Scanner etc
Output is done through output devices like Monitor, Printer, and Projector etc
Processing5 is done mainly by Processor and also there are many Supporting components for
processor to execute the work.
Storage6 of data and information is done on Storage devices or Memories like Hard Disk Drive,
CD/DVD, and Flash Drives permanently. Other memories used by Processing Unit are RAM,
ROM Cache stores the data temporarily during execution or Processing.
4
Types of Computers
Super Computers: Supercomputers are High performance Computers with multi-tasking high-
throughput. Build with thousands of Processor. Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-
intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate
research, oil and gas exploration, molecular modeling and physical simulations such as nuclear
fusion.
First Supercomputer was first designed by Seymour Cray in 1960’s. As of the 2012 world’s fastest
super computer is IBM Sequoia with 16.32 PFLOPS followed by Fujitsu K-Computer with
capacity of 10.51 PLFOPS. Since June 2013, China's Tianhe-2supercomputer is currently
the fastest in the world at 33.86 peta FLOPS (PFLOPS), or 33.86 quadrillions of FLOPS.
Figure 1.2 Tianhe 2 Supercomputer

July 2015 new entry in the Top 10 supercomputers on the latest list is Shaheen II at number 7 is a
Cray XC40 system installed at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. Shaheen II achieved 5.536 petaflop/sec on the Linpack benchmark,
making it the highest-ranked Middle East system in the 22-year history of the list and the first to
crack the Top 10 list, with 196608 cores and 7235.2 RPEAK TFLOPS, that is 5.5 petaflop/sec
and running on Cray Linux environment.
Figure 1.3 Shaheen 2 Supercomputer

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Mainframes: Mainframe computers are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and
governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry
and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and transaction processing. Mainframes are
designed to handle very high volume input and output (I/O) and emphasize throughput computing.
Mainframes are measured in millions of instructions per second (MIPS).
Figure 1.4IBM System Z
Workstations
A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. With higher
configuration than a personal computer, main applications include running a multi-user operating
systems, 3D graphics and oil and gas exploration and simulation as well other application which
requires high computing power. Example in given below image is Dell Precision T7910 with Intel
Xeon 2.3 GHz processor with 10 cores, 32 GB RAM and NVIDIA Quadro 4GB graphics card.
Figure 1.5 Dell T7910
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Desktop Computers: Desktop Computers are Personal Computers for single users with Speed
of 3 to 4 GHz of processing speed.
Figure 1.6 Desktop Computer
Laptop Computers: Laptop is a personal computer and it is portable and all in one layout in
which the keyboard, pointing device, are integrated into computer chassis and an LCD display is in
a hinged lid. Additionally laptop has a built in battery which supports up to 5 to 6 hours. It is often
referred as Notebook.
Figure 1.7 Laptop Computer
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Personal Digital Assistant (PDA): is a portable computer small enough to fit in your hand and
it is also referred to as palmtop computer. It allows you to perform only a small number of
functions.
Figure 1.8 HP PDA
Tablet Computer: is a portable computer larger than PDA with Touch screen for input and with
many functionalities different variants are available in the market like Apple iPad, HTC Pad,
Samsung, HP, Archos, and Microsoft etc.
Figure 1.9 Apple iPad
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Components of a Personal Computer
1. System Case: The system case or System Unit, sometimes called the chassis or enclosure, is
the metal and plastic box that houses the main components of the computer.
2. Monitor - Your monitor is the component that displays the visual output from your computer
as generated by the video card.
3. Keyboard - This is the input device to enter the text data in to the computer.
4. Mouse - A point and click interface for entering commands which works well in graphical
environments.
Figure 1.10 Components of Personal Computer
Components inside the System Case
1. Power Supply (SMPS) it’s a Switch Mode Power Supply, which takes 220 V/ 110 V AC
current as input and converts that in to multiple DC voltages.
2. Hard disk drive(s) this is where your files are permanently stored on your computer. Also,
normally, your operating system is installed here.
3. CD/DVD drive(s) this is normally a read only drive where files are permanently stored. There
are now read/write CD/DVD drives that use special software to allow users to read from and write
to these drives.
4. Motherboard motherboard is the central printed circuit board (PCB) holds many of the
crucial components of the system, while providing connectors for other peripherals. It is also
known as Main Board.
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Components on a Motherboard
Processor Socket: processor is installed in this socket.

Memory Slots: Primary memory RAM is installed in this slot
IDE Connectors: Hard Disk Drive, CD/DVD Drive, Floppy drive connected here.
PCI Slot: Adapter cards are installed in this slot like Display card, Sound card, Network
Interface card, etc
PCI-Ex Slot: it is used to connect Advanced Graphics cards.
Power Connectors: power supply is connected to this.
Chipset: Group of specialized chips on the mother board
Back Panel Connectors: External devices are connected to motherboard or system
through this back panel.
Figure 1.11 Intel DX50Mother Board
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Chipset Memory Control Hub (MCH) also know as North Bridge7 Input Output Control Hub
(ICH) also know as South Bridge8 Buses ROM (Read Only Memory) Other Chips
Figure 1.12 Chipset
Back-Panel9 Display Connector (VGA) PS/2 Mouse and Keyboard RJ 45 Network

Connector Audio Connectors USB Others ( HDMI, LPT, COM1, Mini USB, SATA
connector etc)
Back Panel
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Safety
Check for Static Electricity before you touch system case
Turn-off power supply or unplug power cable before system inspection
Terminologies
1. Efficient ‫فعال‬
2. Effective
3. Extensible ‫عقد قابل للتجديد‬
4. Versatile ‫متعدد اإلستعماالت‬
5. Processing
6. Storage ‫تخزين‬
7. North bridge ‫الجسر الشمالي‬
8. South bridge ‫الجسر الجنوبي‬
9. Back-Panel
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Chapter 2
Motherboard
Objectives
 Understand functionality and Architecture of Motherboard
 Identify components on Motherboard
 Practice Connecting components on Motherboard
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The PC Case or System Case
The Purpose of PC Case is to hold all the basic components, to protect those components from dust
and dirt, to cool the components, and to provide noise reduction.
PC case typically comes with a power supply, cable management systems and mounting locations
for the motherboard, drives and other internal components.
Case Form Factors: Form factors1 refer to physical dimensions (Length, width). PC
Case comes in Form Factors to match motherboard form factors such as ATX, BTX.
Case Categories: PC case falls into two categories tower and desktop. A tower2 dimension
is oriented vertically, desktop dimension is oriented horizontal. They come in various sizes
and quality. Such as Full Tower, Mid Tower, Mini Tower, Desktop, and Low Profile.
Full Tower is 3 to 4 feet tall
Mid Tower is slightly smaller than Full tower cases
Mini tower is 14 to 15 inches tall
Desktop is classical horizontally oriented desktop case 14 inches wide and 5 inches tall.
Low Profile case is scaled down version of the desktop case, also called “slimline”
Figure 2.1 PC Case Tower PC Case Desktop or Low Profile
Motherboard
Motherboard3 is the Printed circuit board and it is the main component of the system, every
component internal or external connects directly or indirectly to motherboard. It is also
known as mainboard or printed circuit board, system board. It is made of fiberglass brown
or green typically with a meshwork of copper lines these lines are electronic circuits
through which power, data, and control signals travel. Group of these lines assigned a set
of functions, is collectively called a “bus”.
There are ways in which components are connected4 to the motherboard.
1. Integrated in to the circuit board of the motherboard (in build video, audio, NIC
controllers)
2. Attached through connectors, sockets, slots on board (processor, RAM, HDD, CD/DVD)
3 Attached through external back panel or front panel (Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, USB
drive)
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Form Factors of Motherboard

The form factor refers to the physical dimensions (size and shape) as well as certain
connector, screw hole, and other positions that dictate into which type of case the board
will fit.
BTX New-generation tower and desktop systems; likely to be the most common form
factor from 2007 and beyond; supports high-end systems
microBTX Smaller version of BTX; used in new-generation mid-range systems; fits the
microBTX or BTX chassis
picoBTX Smallest version of BTX; used in low-end small form factor, entertainment, or
appliance systems; fits the picoBTX, microBTX, or BTX chassis
ATX Standard tower and desktop systems; most common form factor from mid-1996
through the present; supports high-end systems
Mini-ATX A slightly smaller version of ATX that fits the ATX chassis; many ATX
motherboards are sold as Mini-ATX motherboards
microATX Smaller version of ATX; used in mid-range systems; fits the microATX or ATX
chassis
Mini-ITX Minimum-size FlexATX version; used in set-top boxes and compact/small form
factor systems; highly integrated with one PCI expansion slot; fits in the Mini-ITX,
FlexATX, microATX, or ATX chassis
NLX Corporate slim desktop or mini-tower systems; fast and easy serviceability; slots on
riser card; largely replaced in recent systems by microATX, FlexATX, and Mini-ITX
designs
Main Components of Motherboard

 Processor Socket
 Memory Slots
 Chipset
 Bus Architecture
 Firmware
 BIOS
 CMOS
 Motherboard Connectors
 Adapter cards Slots
Processor Socket
Processor is mounted on the motherboard in a socket.
Types of Socket
 Pin Grid Array (PGA)
 Land Grid Array (LGA) (socket T)
 Ball Grid Array (BGA)
 Flip Chip PGA
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Figure 2.2 Processor Sockets
Primary Memory Slots
 172-pin MicroDIMM, used for DDR SDRAM

 184-pin DIMM, used for DDR SDRAM
 200-pin SO-DIMM, used for DDR SDRAM and DDR2 SDRAM
 204-pin SO-DIMM, used for DDR3 SDRAM
 214-pin MicroDIMM, used for DDR2 SDRAM
 240-pin DIMM, used for DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM and FB-DIMM DRAM
Figure 2.3 Memory Slot
Chipset
Chipset refers to a group of integrated circuits, or chips, that are designed to work together.
A chipset controls the system bus structures and facilitates the movement of data and
instructions between the Processor, cache memory and internal and external peripheral
devices.
Two main chips in chipset are Memory Control Hub (Northbridge) and Input Output
Control Hub (Southbridge). The Northbridge links the CPU to very high-speed devices,
especially main memory and graphics controllers, and the Southbridge connects to lower-
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speed peripheral buses (such as PCI ). In many modern chipsets, the Southbridge actually
contains some on-chip integrated peripherals, such as Ethernet, USB, and audio devices.
Chipset controls the flow of bits that travel between the CPU, system memory, and the
motherboard bus. Efficient data transfers, fast expansion bus support, and advanced power
management and many more are the features of chipset.
A chipset is usually designed to work with a specific family of microprocessors. Because it
controls communications between the processor and external devices, the chipset plays a
crucial role in determining system performance.
Every chipset has a specific model number and its two main chips North Bridge and South
Bridge model numbers. We can identify them in following ways
1. Using Chipset Identification Utility: download a tool from Intel or third party
website and install the tool to indentify the chipset model.
2. Through Device manager: click Start » click Control Panel » double-click

the System icon » click the Hardware tab » click Device Manager Click the sign to
expand the System devices entry. Look for the chipset name in a string similar to the
following: "Intel® 955X Memory Controller Hub - 2774". In this example, the chipset
is an Intel® 955X Express Chipset.
3. Product Documentation
4. Chipset Marking: Open the System case and on the motherboard find the chipset
marking or chipset model number.
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Figure 2.4 Chipset Model
Given below is the list of few chipset models and processor compatible with them.
Chipset Part numbers South Bridge Processors FSB Memory type
945GC 82945GC (MCH) ICH7/ICH7R/ICH7- Pentium 4, Pentium 533/800 MHz DDR2 533/667
DH D, Celeron D, Core
2 Duo, Pentium
Dual-Core, Atom
P965 82P965 (MCH) ICH8/ICH8R/ICH8- Pentium Dual- 533/800/1066 MHz DDR2

DH Core/Core 2 533/667/800
Quad/Core 2 Duo
Q35 82Q35 (MCH) ICH9/ICH9R/ICH9- Pentium Dual- 800/1066/1333 MHz DDR2 667/800
DO Core/Core 2
Quad/Core 2 Duo
H55 BD82H55 (PCH) SLGZX(B3) Core i3/i5/i7 2 GB/s DMI

Mobile
QS77 BD82QS77 SLJ8B(C1) Core i3/i5/i7 4 GB/s DMI

(PCH) Mobile
Figure 2.5 Chipset Block Diagram
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Bus Architecture
It refers to pathways that power, data, and control signals use to travel from one component
to another in the computer. There are different types of buses.
Processor Bus: data and control signals to and from processor travel through this bus it is
also known as Front Side Bus
Memory Bus: data and control signals to and from primary memory (RAM) travel through
this bus.
Input Output Bus: data and control signals to and from input and output devices travel
through this bus.
The system crystal determines the speed at which a CPU and the rest of the PC operate. This is
called the system bus speed. The system crystal is usually a quartz oscillator, very similar to the
one in a wristwatch, soldered to the motherboard (Figure 2.6). The quartz oscillator sends out an
electric pulse at a certain speed, many millions of times per second. This signal goes first to a
clock chip that adjusts the pulse, usually increasing the pulse sent by the crystal by some large
multiple. As long as the PC is turned on, the quartz oscillator, through the clock chip, fires a
Charge on the CLK wire, in essence pushing the system along. Before you install a CPU into a
system, you must make sure that the crystal and clock chip send out the correct clock pulse for that
particular CPU.
Figure 2.6 Quartz Oscillator
Firmware
Firmware5 refers to software instructions, usually stored on ROM chips. Firmware exits on
most PC components, such as video adapter, hard drives, network adapter and printers.
These instructions are always available, so they are not reprogrammed every time the
computer is started.
BIOS: Basic Input Output System

BIOS is a term that stands for basic input output system, which consists of low-level
software that controls the system hardware and acts as an interface between the operating
system and the hardware. It is responsible for informing the processor of the devices
present and how to communicate with them. Whenever the processor makes a request of a
component, the BIOS steps in and translates the request into instructions that the
component can understand.
Older Computers contained a true Read-Only BIOS that cannot be altered. Now the flash
BIOS can be electronically upgrade so that it can recognize new device type. Given below
is the illustration of system as layers6 where BIOS is in between hardware and Operating
System.
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Application Programs
Operating System
ROM BIOS and Device Drivers
HARDWARE
Figure 2.7 PC System Layers
CMOS: Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor is another type of firmware,

which stores settings such as data and time, keyboard settings, boot sequence. Interrupt
Request line and I/O resources that BIOS uses. It is also referred as RTC/NVRAM (Real
Time Clock Non Volatile RAM), this chip is volatile7 but it is supplied with power from
Lithium Battery as show in the given below figure 2.8.
You can enter and edit the settings by entering the computer’s Setup Program during boot
up process. This is also referred as BIOS Setup.
Note: BIOS and CMOS not to be confused they are two separate components.
Figure 2.8 CMOS Battery
UEFI: (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is a standard firmware interface for PCs, designed
to replace BIOS (basic input/output system). This standard was created by over 140 technology
companies as part of the UEFI consortium, including Microsoft. It's designed to improve software
interoperability and address limitations of BIOS. Some advantages of UEFI firmware include:
 Better security by helping to protect the pre-startup—or pre-boot—process

against bootkit attacks.
 Faster startup times and resuming from hibernation.
 Support for drives larger than 2.2 terabytes (TB).
 Support for modern, 64-bit firmware device drivers that the system can use to address more
than 17.2 billion gigabytes (GB) of memory during startup.
 Capability to use BIOS with UEFI hardware.
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Mother Board Connectors

All of the components of a computer directly8 or indirectly9 connect to motherboard and
some are in-built10. In many ways connection is established they are as follows.
 On Board Connection: here component is fixed on to board using Slots and Sockets
on mother board. Example Processor, RAM, Network card, AGP card etc
 Internal Connection: Components inside the System case connects to mother board
using connectors. Example Hard Disk Drive, CD/DVD Drive, etc
 External Connection: Components external to the system case are connected

through back-panel.
SLOTS: slot is a narrow opening through which an object can pass. Here on motherboard
a slot is used to fix an adapter card in to it. There are different types of slot available but
most common which are seen on most of the motherboards are given below.
PCI Slots (Peripheral Component Interconnect): PCI is bus to connect the expansion
cards like network card, modem card, video card etc, PCI Slot is the most common slot
found on almost all of the mother boards. . There are many variants of PCI bus as follows.
133 MB/s (32-bit at 33 MHz)
266 MB/s (32-bit at 66 MHz or 64-

bit at 33 MHz)
533 MB/s (64-bit at 66 MHz)
Figure 2.9 PCI Slot
PCI Express (PCIe): this slot is as PCI but with numerous improvements such as
maximum system bus throughput, high speed, and low pin count.
Figure 2.10 PCI E Slots

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PCI Express Version Transfer Rate Bandwidth in x16
1.0 2.5 GT/s 32 Gbit/s or 4 GB/s
2.0 5 GT/s 64 Gbit/s or 8 GB/s
3.0 8 GT/s 126 Gbit/s or 15.7 GB/s
4.0 16 GT/s 252 Gbit/s or 31.5 GB/s
The PCI Express bus is hot plug, i.e., it’s possible to install and remove PCI Express
boards even when the PC is on. PCI Express slot is connected to the motherboard chipset
using a dedicated lane, not sharing this lane (data path) with other PCI Express slots.
The PCI Express x16 slot was developed to be used by video cards. PCI Express has
replaced AGP as the default interface for graphics cards on new systems. With a few
exceptions, all graphics cards being released as of 2009 from ATI and NVIDIA use PCI
Express. NVIDIA uses the high bandwidth data transfer of PCIe for its Scalable Link
Interface (SLI) technology, which allows multiple graphics cards of the same chipset and
model number to be run in tandem, allowing increased performance.
Power Connectors: Power Supply (SMPS) supplies power to mother board. Different
Form factors of power supply are available for desktop computers, such as ATX, BTX,
LPX, microATX , Flex ITX.
ATX (Advanced Technology Extension) is widely used. The ATX specification requires
the power supply to produce three main outputs, +3.3 V, +5 V and +12 V.
The power supply connectors
4 Pin Molex Connector This is used to power various

components, including hard drives and CD/DVD drives.
available in: AT, ATX & ATX-2
20 Pin Molex ATX Power Connector This is used to power

the motherboard in ATX systems. available in: ATX( ATX-2
have four extra pins)
4 Pin Molex P4 12V Power Connector
Used specifically for Pentium 4 Processor Motherboards.
6 Pin AUX Connector Provides +5V DC, and two

connections of +3.3V. available in: ATX/ATX-2
15 pin SATA Connector

Provides + 3.3 DC available in ATX-2
Used for Hard disk and CD/DVD drive
Figure 2.11 Power Connectors.

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Parallel ATA Connector (PATA): It is 40 Pin connector. A ribbon cable11 connects the
Hard disk drive and CD/DVD Drive to the interface, as shown in the figure below.
Figure 2.12 PATA Connectors.
Serial ATA (SATA): SATA is the High Speed Interface with seven conductors, SATA
ribbon cable can be of 1 meter, it enables Hot-plugging. Figure below show cable and
connector on motherboard.
Figure 2.13 SATA Connector
Back Panel Connectors

ATX boards have a unique double-high connector area for all the built-in connectors on the
motherboard. When the computer is mounted, those motherboard parts show up at the
computer case back panel. They are used to plug the mouse, keyboard, monitor, printer,
sound and any other peripherals you may have.
Figure 2.14 Back panel connectors
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Safety
Use anti-static electric discharge pad or wear shoes before touching motherboard
Do not touch pins inside Processor Socket
Terminologies
10. Form-Factors
11. Tower ‫برج‬
12. Motherboard ‫اللوحات الرئيسية‬
13. Connected ‫متصل‬
14. Firmware ‫البرامج الثابتة‬
15. Layers ‫طبقات‬
16. Volatile ‫متطاير‬
17. Directly ‫مباشره‬
18. Indirectly ‫على نحو غير مباشر‬
19. In-built ‫يحمل في ثناياه عوامل‬
20. Ribbon-Cable ‫الشريط الكابل‬
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Chapter 3
Power Supply and Voltage Regulatory Module
Objectives
 Understand the Power Supply Units, Specifications and Cable Connections

 Identity and Trouble Shoot Power Supply problems
 Understand Voltage Regulatory Module on motherboard
 Test and Trouble shoot Voltage Regulatory Module on motherboard
25
SMPS
Figure 3.1 SMPS
Power supply unit (PSU) or Switch Mode Power Supply (SMPS) converts 110V or 220V AC
current into the DC voltages which a computer needs to operate. These are +3.3VDC, +5VDC, –
5VDC (on older systems), +12VDC, and –12VDC. The jacket on the leads carrying each type of
voltage has a different industry standard color coding for faster recognition. A watt is a unit of
power. The higher the number, the more power your computer can draw from the power supply.
Think of this rating as the “capacity” of the device to supply power. Most computers require power
supplies in the 250- to 500-watt range. Higher wattage power supplies might be required for more
advanced systems that employ power-hungry graphics technologies or multiple disk drives, for
instance. PSU that powers a PC and utilizes switching power conversion (SPC) is known as Switch
mode power supply. The principle of SPC takes energy from the power grid, and then it's chopped
with a high-frequency rate into smaller energy packets with the use of some fast switches (FETs),
and finally, it's transferred with the help of components like capacitors and inductors. In the end,
all of the energy packets are merged, and after some rectification processes, energy flows smoothly
from the output.
Inside the power supply unit there are electronic components that are inductor coils, transformers,
capacitors, resistors, transistors and diodes. Quality of these components plays the main role in
reliable functioning of power supply units.
Figure 3.1 inside SMPS

SMPS Cooling
A very important component of most PSUs is the fan that handles cooling. However, there are
some passive PSUs that don't utilize any active cooling. Fans keep sensitive components (like
electrolytic caps) at appropriate temperatures. Doing this prolongs the PSU's life span, but the type
26
and quality of the fan also plays a key role in its noise output. The circuit that controls the fan is
responsible for its speed, and thus acoustic profile, under various conditions. If a manufacturer
uses a high-speed fan, chances are that it will increase the overall noise output, especially at higher
loads. PSU’s are of different types, sleeve bearing fans, double ball bearing fans, fluid dynamic
bearing and Hydro dynamic bearing fans.
SMPS output cables and Connectors
Figure 3.2 Connectors
Power supply units’ gives different output lanes with different type of connector, purpose of this
variation in type of connector is to provide safety and convenience to connect different devices in
system case with power supply unit. Cable are color coded, different color indicates different
voltages, figure given below show the color codes.
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Figure 3.3 ATX-24 pin connector color code
Power supply should be tested first in case of no power on, as follow
1. Test wall socket for desired AC output

2. Test power cable
3. Check SMPS Fan
4. Test output voltages from SMPS based on voltage given in figure 3.3
To power on SMPS outside the System case, short circuit the Power On (green) cable with
ground (black) as shown in the figure below. Multi meter is tool to test the different voltage
outputs from the power supply.
Figure 3.4 Power-on SMPS
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Voltage Regulatory Circuit
Voltage regulatory circuit supplies power to processor, it also know as processor power
module, A good voltage regulator won’t have any fluctuations or noise on its outputs,
providing the CPU and other components with a clean and stable voltage, allowing them to
work perfectly. A bad voltage regulator can lead to fluctuations or noise on the voltage that
will lead to malfunctions like the computer crashing, resetting and presenting the infamous
Blue Screen of Death on Windows.
VRM is divided as phases or channels on motherboard, more the phases better the quality
of motherboard in general there are 3 phases on motherboard, high performance and high
quality motherboards offer up to 12 phases of VRM on it.
Each phase consist of following electronic components
1. Induction coil or Choke (each phase 1 coil)
2. MOSFETs (Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) (each phase 3)
3. Capacitors (each phase 3 capacitors)
4. MOSFET Driver IC ( 1 per Phase)
Each Phase thus consist of one coil, 3 MOSFET, 3 Capacitor, 1 MOSFET driver.
29
www.hardwaresecrets.com
ASROCK X99M Motherboard

with 12 Phases
30
Chapter 4
Assemble and Disassemble the Desktop PC
Objectives
 Assemble and Disassemble the whole Desktop computer
 Identity and use tools
 Troubleshoot connection problems
31
The components used in building a typical PC are as follows:
 Case and power supply

 Motherboard
 Processor with heat-sink1 and fan2
 Memory
 Floppy drive (optional)
 Hard disk drive
 Optical drive(s) (CD and/or DVD)
 Keyboard and pointing device (mouse)
 Video card and display
 Sound card (optional) and speakers
 Modem (optional) or network interface card (optional)
 Cables
 Hardware (nuts, bolts, screws, and brackets)
 Operating system software
Tools used to assemble and disassemble
 Flat or straight screw driver

 Phillips/square or Quadrex screw
 Trox screw driver etc
Figure 4.0 Quadrex bits Figure 4.1 Tweezers
Figure 3.2 Cable Cutter

Figure 4.3 Claw Tool
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The following sections cover the assembly and disassembly procedure:
1. System Case and Power Supply

2. Motherboard, Processor, Heat sink, RAM.
3. Adapter cards
4. Disk Drives
5. External Devices
System Case and Power supply (SMPS)

System Case and Power Supply are available as single unit pre-attached, if not, assemble
the power supply as fallows.
Figure 4.3 SMPS Figure 4.4 System Case
Note: SMPS should be set to proper Input Voltage Level 220 or 110.
Motherboard
Motherboard should be prepared as follows
Processor: While inserting Processor, in to processor socket. One should follow the
marking on the processor and processor socket they should be on same side.
Figure 4.5 Processor and Processor Socket direction for assembling
33
Heat sink and Processor Fan: heat sink is the metal peace made of Aluminum Alloy
which acts as heat exchanger, it disperses the heat in to surrounding air, and heat-sink is
used to cool the high power semiconductor devices. On computer motherboard it used on
processor, memory control hub and Input Output Control hub. Before placing heating on
any chip heat sink compound is used it is a viscous fluid it is also known as thermal grease 4
it increases thermal conductivity.
Figure 4.6 Heat sink Figure4.7 Thermal grease
Heat sink Fan: a fan is attached on the top of processor heat sink and other heat sink is left
without fan or it is not required. This fan will exhort the hot air from heat sink.
Figure 4.8 Heat sink with fan
Insert RAM in to DIMM Slots
Figure 4.9 RAM Placement

34
Disk Drives: Disk drives (Hard Disk Drives, CD/DVD Drives) should be mounted in to
racks of the system case and alignment should be proper.
Figure 4.10 Disk Racks in system case

Motherboard should be placed in to the system case here two things should be taken in to
account.
1. Position of the screw holes and standoffs
2. Back panel alignment
After motherboard is placed in to system case and screws and standoffs are fixed carefully
next step is to connect all the cables.
Connect Power cable to motherboard
Hard Disk Drive CD/DVD power cable and Data cable (SATA/PATA)
Connect Front panel cables for Power Switch, Restart, USB, LEDs, and Audio Jacks. Refer
motherboard manual for connections or follow the labels of connectors and motherboard or
in few motherboards pin pattern act as guide.
Figure 4.11 Front Panel Connectors

Adapter cards: like Network interface cards, Display cards, Modem cards. Etc is installed
in to system on Slots like PCI AGP PCIe and others. To install an adapter card first identify
the card and slot required for it. If available place the card in to slot carefully insert with
little force and ensure complete connect.
Figure 4.12 Expansion Slots

35
External Devices: External Device like Monitor Keyboard, mouse, Speakers, Printers etc
are connected through back panel and USB devices and audio devices can be connected
through front panel5 also
Monitor requires power and data through separate connections. Power is given directly or
even through SMPS, Data cable is connected to the back –panel of the system
(motherboard). There are different types of connectors, but VGA is the standard connector.
Other than VGA there are HDMI and DVI as shown in the figure given below.
Figure 4.13 Monitor Connectors
Keyboard and Mouse are connected to the system in two ways

1. PS/2 (green for Mouse, blue for keyboard)
2. USB
Figure 4.14 PS/2 and USB connector
Audio System and Head Phones are connected through Audio jack and USB also.
Figure 4.15 Audio Jack
36
Terminologies
21. Heat-sink ‫المعادن التبريد‬
22. Fan ‫مروحة‬
23. Screw driver ‫مفك‬
24. Thermal grease ‫الشحوم الحرارية‬
25. Front panel ‫اللوحة األمامية‬
Safety
Turn of power supply and disconnect power cable
Use anti-static electric discharge pads
Handle HDD very carefully
Remove the components and place them on safe area
Installed Processor with due care
37
Chapter 5
Microprocessor
Objectives
 Understand Processor and its supporting components
 Understand bus Architecture
 Identify processor and its configuration
 Installation of Processor on Motherboard
38
Processor or Microprocessor
The brain or engine of the PC is the processor also called as microprocessor, or central processing
unit (CPU). The CPU performs the system's calculating and processing. The processor is often the
most expensive single component in the system.
Processors Specifications
 Speed of the Processor (Clock Speed) which is measured in MHz and GHz
 Speed of the Front Side Bus measured in MHz and GHz
 Address Bus
 Internal Registers
 Internal Cache Memory measured in MBs
Clock Speed is the number of cycles1 per second (measured in hertz), the clock rate of a CPU is
normally determined by the frequency of an oscillator crystal. The clock speed is the fastest speed
at which a CPU can operate, determined by the CPU manufacturer.
The Intel 8088 processor had a clock speed of 4.77 MHz (4.77 million cycles per second),
extremely slow by modern standards, but still a pretty big number compared to using a pencil and
paper! CPUs today run at speeds in excess of 3 GHz (3 billion cycles per second).
1 hertz (1 Hz) = 1 cycle per second
1 megahertz (1 MHz) = 1 million cycles per second
1 gigahertz (1 GHz) = 1 billion cycles per second
The fundamental operation of most CPUs, regardless of the physical form they take, is to execute a
sequence of stored instructions called a program. The performance or speed of a processor depends
on the clock rate and the Instructions per Clock (IPC), which together are the factors for
the Instructions per Second (IPS) that the CPU can perform.
Understand that a CPU’s clock speed is its maximum speed, not the speed at which it must run. A
CPU can run at any speed, as long as that speed does not exceed its clock speed.
8086 and 8088 processors take an average of 12 cycles to execute a single instruction.
286 and 386 processors improve this rate to about 4.5 cycles per instruction
486 and most other fourth-generation Intel-compatible processors, such as the AMD 5x86 2 cycles
per instruction
Pentium Pro, Pentium II/III/4/D/Extreme Edition/Celeron, and Athlon/Athlon XP/Athlon
64/Athlon 64FX/Duron/Sempron three or more instructions per cycle.
Data Input Output or Front-Side Bus (FSB) is the bus that carries data between
the CPU and the Northbridge. Throughput of the front-side bus is determined by the product of the
width of its data path, its clock frequency (cycles per second) and the number of data transfers it
performs per clock cycle. Data in a computer is sent as digital information in which certain
voltages or voltage transitions occurring within specific time intervals represent data as 1s and 0s.
You can increase the amount of data being sent (called bandwidth) by increasing either the cycling
time or the number of bits being sent at a time, or both. Over the years, processor data buses have
gone from 8 bits wide to 64 bits wide. All modern processors from the original Pentium and
Athlon through the latest Core i7, AMD FX 83xx series, and even the Itanium series have a 64-bit
(8-byte)-wide data bus. Therefore, they can transfer 64 bits of data at a time to and from the
motherboard chipset or system memory.
For example, a 64-bit (8-byte) wide FSB operating at a frequency of 100 MHz that performs 4
transfers per cycle has a bandwidth of 3200 megabytes per second (MB/s). (8*100*4=3200).
39
Address Bus
The address bus is the set of wires that carry the addressing information used to describe the
memory location to which the data is being sent or from which the data is being retrieved. As with
the data bus, each wire in an address bus carries a single bit of information. This single bit is a
single digit in the address. The more wires (digits) used in calculating these addresses, the greater
the total number of address locations. The size (or width) of the address bus indicates the
maximum amount of RAM a chip can address.
Computers use the binary (base 2) numbering system, so a two-digit number provides only four
unique addresses (00, 01, 10, and 11), example if address bus is 8 bit to calculate number of
addresses do the following.
28=2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2=256.
Intel processor with 40 bit address bus can handle 1TiB of address of RAM.
Internal Registers
Registers are internal memory location of the processor where data being processed and instruction
is stored. The size of the internal registers indicates how much information the processor can
operate on at one time and how it moves data around internally within the chip. This is sometimes
also referred to as the internal data bus. Intel i7 processors have 8 32-bit mode registers and 16 64-
bit mode registers.Both AMD and Intel currently produce the newest thing in micro processing 64-
bit CPUs. A 64-bit CPU has general-purpose, floating point, and address registers that are 64 bits
wide, meaning they can handle 64-bit-wide code in one pass—twice as wide as a 32-bit processor.
And, they can address much, much more memory. With the 32-bit address bus of the Pentium and
later CPUs, the maximum amount of memory the CPU can address is 232 or 4,294,967,296 bytes.
With a 64-bit address bus, CPUs can address 2 64 bytes of memory, or more precisely,
18,446,744,073,709,551,616 bytes of memory—that’s a lot of RAM This number is so big that
gigabytes and terabytes are no longer convenient, so we now go to an exabyte (260). A 64-bit
address bus can address 16 exabytes of RAM. No 64-bit CPU uses an actual 64-bit address bus.
Right now, the most RAM anybody uses is 4 GB, so there’s not much motivation for creating a
CPU or a motherboard that can handle and hold 16 EB. Every 64-bit processor gets its address bus
“clipped” down to something reasonable. The Intel Itanium, for example, only has a 44-bit address
bus for a maximum address space of 244 , or 17,592,186,044,416 bytes. Initially, both AMD and
Intel raced head with competing 64-bit processors. Interestingly, they took very different paths.
Let’s look at the two CPUs that made the first wave of 64-bit processing: the Intel Itanium and the
AMD Opteron.
Cache Memory a CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit of a computer to
reduce the average time to access memory, the cache is a smaller, faster memory which stores
copies of the data which are most frequently used.
The cache on the CPU was called the L1 cache because it was the one the CPU first tried to use.
The ache on the motherboard was called the L2 cache not because it was on the motherboard, but
because it was the second cache the CPU checked. Later engineers took this cache concept even
further and added the L2 cache onboard the CPU. A few CPU makers even went so far as to
include three caches: an L1, an L2, and an L3 cache on the CPU. L3 caches are only seen on very
powerful and specialized CPUs never on more common CPUs.
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Clock Multiplier of CPU

All modern CPUs are clock multipliers. So in reality, every CPU now has two clock speeds: the
speed that it runs internally and the speed that it runs when talking on the address bus and the
external data bus (Front Side Bus). Multipliers run from 2× up to almost 30×. Multipliers do not
have to be whole numbers. You can find a CPU with a multiplier of 6.5× just as easily as you
would find one with a multiplier of 7×. A late-generation Pentium would have an external speed of
66 MHz (FSB) multiplied by 4.5× for an internal speed of 300 MHz
GPU: Graphics Processing Unit is a specialized processor that offloads 3D or 2D graphics

rendering from the microprocessor. In a personal computer, a GPU can be present on a video card,
or it can be on the motherboard, core processor of Intel has GPU inside the processor. Example
Core i7 6920HQ have GPU HD Graphics 530 embedded in the processor die.
GPU-accelerated computing is the use of a graphics processing unit (GPU) together with a CPU to
accelerate scientific, analytics, engineering, consumer, and enterprise applications. Pioneered in
2007 by NVIDIA, GPU accelerators now power energy-efficient datacenters in government labs,
universities, enterprises, and small-and-medium businesses around the world. GPUs are
accelerating applications in platforms ranging from cars, to mobile phones and tablets, to drones
and robots. GPU-accelerated computing offers unprecedented application performance by
offloading compute-intensive portions of the application to the GPU, while the remainder of the
code still runs on the CPU. From a user's perspective, applications simply run significantly faster
Thermal design power (TDP), sometimes called thermal design point, refers to the
maximum amount of power the cooling system in a computer is required to dissipate. Example
Core i7 3770T require 45 Watts.
Intel Turbo Boost is a technology implemented by Intel in certain models of Core i5 and Core
i7 that enables the processor to run above its base operating frequency via dynamic control of the
CPU's "clock rate". It is activated when the operating system requests the highest performance
state of the processor.
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) Instruction Set is an extension to

the x86 instruction set architecture for microprocessors from Intel and AMD. The purpose of the
instruction set is to improve the speed of applications performing encryption and decryption using
the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
Intel virtualization (VT-x). is the Virtualization Technology from Intel. Hardware

Virtualtization2 is the facility that allows multiple operating systems to simultaneously
share processor resources in a safe and efficient manner.
MMX Technology
In 1996, Intel added a new enhancement to its CPU, called multimedia extensions (MMX), in
response to the large number of programs with heavy graphic needs coming out at this time.MMX
was designed to work with large graphics by calculating on large chunks of data and performing
vector math (vector math is needed to handle graphical issues such as spinning a (3D object).
41
SSE, SSE2, and SSE3
In February 1999, Intel introduced the Pentium III processor and included in that processor an
update to MMX called Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE). Advantages of SSE are as follows
 Higher resolution and higher quality image viewing and manipulation for graphics software
 High-quality audio, MPEG2 video, and simultaneous MPEG2 encoding and decoding for
multimedia applications
 Reduced CPU utilization for speech recognition, as well as higher accuracy and faster
response times when running speech-recognition software
SSE2 is an extension to SSE and SSE3 is an extension to SSE2.
3DNow
3DNow technology was originally introduced as AMD's alternative to the SSE instructions in the
Intel processors.
Hyper-Threading Technology
Computers with two or more physical processors have long had a performance advantage over
single-processor computers when the operating system supported multiple processors, as is the
case with Windows NT 4.0, 2000, XP Professional, and Linux. However, dual-processor
motherboards and systems have always been more expensive than otherwise-comparable single
processor systems, and upgrading a dual-processor-capable system to dual-processor status can be
difficult with only one processor because of the need to match processor speeds and specifications.
However, Intel's Hyper-Threading (HT) Technology allows a single processor to handle two
independent sets of instructions at the same time. In essence, HT Technology converts a single
physical processor into two virtual processors. Intel originally introduced HT Technology in its
line of Xeon processors for servers in March 2002.
Core Architecture3 CPUs

CPU clock speeds hit a practical limit of roughly 4 GHz around 2002–2003, motivating the CPU
makers to find new ways to get more processing power for CPUs. Dual-core isn’t just two CPUs
on the same chip. A dual-core CPU has two execution units two sets of pipelines but the two sets
of pipelines share caches and RAM.
Intel introduced Dual core with Pentium D line of processor. The Pentium D is simply two late-
generation
Pentium 4s molded onto the same chip with each CPU using its own cache although they do share
the same front side bus. There are two codenames for Pentium D processors: the “Smithfield”
(model numbers 8xx), using a 90-nmprocess, and the “Presler” (model numbers 9xx), using a 65-
nm process. Pentium Ds use the LGA (Land Grid Array) 775 socket.
42
Figure 5.1 Core Processor design
Intel Core Processor Family Brand Names
Core solo
Core Duo
Core2 Solo
Core2 Duo
Core2 Quad
Core2 Extreme
Core i3, Core i5, Core i7,
Intel Core 2
In Year 2006 With the Core 2 line of processors, Intel released radically revised processor
architecture, called Core Architecture. Redesigned to maximize efficiency, and low power
consumption.
Some of the models of Core2 Processors are given below for complete list Refer to Intel Processor
List
Model Spec Number Frequency L2 Cache FSB Multipl Socket Release

Number ier Date
Core 2 Duo SL9TB (L2) 1800 MHz 2 MB 800 9× LGA 775 January
E4300 SLA99 (M0) MT/s 21, 2007
Core 2 Duo SLA3F (L2) 2000 MHz 2 MB 800 10× LGA 775 April 22,
E4400 SLA98 (M0) MT/s 2007
Core 2 Duo SLA95 (M0) 2200 MHz 2 MB 800 11× LGA 775 July 22,
E4500 MT/s 2007
Core i3, i5, i7 are the based on Intel Nehalem architecture, Nehalem Processor are more energy
efficient than other core processors and Hyper Threading is reintroduced here along with L3 cache.
43
Model Spec Number Frequency L2 Cache L3 Cores Socket Memory Release Date
Number Cache
Core i3 530 SLBLR (C2) 2933 MHz 2 *256 KB 4 MB 2 LGA 2*DDR3 January 7,
1156 1333 2010
Core i3 SLBQC (C2) 2133 MHz 2*256 KB 3 MB 2 BGA 2*DDR3 January 7

330E 1288 1066 2010
Core i5 SR0QH (D2) 3.4 GHz 4 × 256 KB 6 MB 4 LGA 2 × DDR3- January 2012
2550 K 1155 1333
Core i7- SR0PQ (E1 2.5 GHz 4 × 256 KB 8 MB 4 LGA 4* DDR3- April 2012
3770T 1155 1600
Intel has introduced many other processors with different micro-architectures, westmere,
SandyBridge, ivy Bridge, Haswell, Broadwell, and new Skylake line of processor in August 2015.
Model GPU Frequency L2 Cache L3 Cores Socket Memory Release Date

Number Cache
Core i3 6300 HD530 3.8GHz 2*256 KB 4 MB 2 LGA 2*DDR4 September

1151 1866/1600 2015
Core i5 5675C Iris Pro 3.21GHz 4*256 KB 4MB 4 LGA DDR3L- June
Graphics 1150 1333/1600
6200 2015
Core i5 6500 HD530 3.2 GHz 4*256 KB 6MB 4 LGA DDR4- September
1151 1866/2133, 2015
DDR3L-
1333/1600
Core i7 5775C Iris Pro 3.3GHz 4*256 KB 6MB 4 LGA DDR3L- June
Graphics 1150 1333/1600
6200 2015
Core i7 6700K HD530 4 GHz 4*256 KB 8MB 4 LGA DDR4- September

1151 1866/2133, 2015
DDR3L-
1333/1600
44
Brand Name: Core i3, i5, i7 are the brand name it applies to the family of desktop and laptop
processors.
Code Name: westmere (1st generartion, SandyBridge (2nd generation), ivy Bridge (3rd generation),
Haswell (4th generation), Broadwell (5th generation) and new Skylake (6th generation)
Model Number: Model number of processor is given to processor, model number also describes
its code name and brand name eg: core i7 5775C
How to identify the model and Specifications of the Processor

Information on the Chip
Intel Core2 Duo [Brand Name]
4300 SL9TB [Model]
MALAY [Country where Manufactured]
1.80 GHz/2M/800/06 [Speed=1.80, Cache=2MB, FSB=800
MHz, Year of manufacturing=2006]
Q641A179 [Part Number]
Figure 4.2 Intel Processor
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processors
AMD is another manufacturer of micro processor which is having respectable share in the market.
Model Clock rate Cache Memory Socket Release
2.2 GHz
Opteron June 23,
(4122), L3-Cache 6 DDR3
Quad-core Socket C32 2010
2.6 GHz MB 1333 MHz
Lisbon
(4130)
Opteron 8 core DDR3 March

2.4 GHz L3 8MB Socket AM3+
Zurich (3280) 1866 MHz 20, 2012
Athnol II
L2 512 kB DDR3
Propus 3.1 GHz Socket AM3 Sep 2009
per core 1333 MHz
AMD release processors in different models and lines with different micro-architectures
Processor lines of AMD are Opteron, Phenom, Athlon, Turion, Sempron. And micro
architectures like K7 Architecture, K8 Core Architecture, K-10 Core Architecture and Bobcat Core
architecture.
Server Processors
45
Intel Xeon Processors

Code-named Core Date released
Sossaman dual (65 nm) Mar 2006
Woodcrest dual (65 nm) Jun 2006
Conroe dual (65 nm) Oct 2006
Allendale dual (65 nm) Jan 2007
Wolfdale dual (45 nm) Feb 2008
Kentsfield quad (65 nm) Jan 2007
Yorkfield quad (45 nm) Mar 2008
Wolfdale DP dual (45 nm) Nov 2007
Clovertown quad (65 nm) Nov 2006
Harpertown quad (45 nm) Nov 2007
Nehalem-EP dual/quad (45 nm) Mar 2009
Bloomfield quad (45 nm) Mar 2009
Beckton (65xx) quad/six/eight (45 nm) Mar 2010
Westmere-EX (E7-2xxx) six/eight/ten (32 nm) Apr 2011
Sandy Bridge-EP dual/quad/six/eight (32 nm) Mar 2012
AMD Server Processors

Processor Series Model Frequency wattage Cores
AMD Opteron 6200 Series 6282 SE 2600 140 W 16
AMD Opteron 6200 Series 6238 2600 115 W 12
AMD Opteron 4200 Series 4276 HE 2600 65 W 8
Laptops and Notebooks also have a different range of processor like from Intel Atom Processors
and Mobile Series processor and from AMD Athlon neo AMD fusion are designed for notebooks,
other manufacturer like ARM also launched lower power and energy efficient processors for
laptop and notebook market.
Terminologies
26. Cycles ‫دورات‬
27. Virtualization ‫االفتراضية‬
28. Architecture ‫أسلوب بناء‬
46
Chapter 6
Secondary Storage Devices
HDD
Solid State Drives
Objectives
 Assemble and Disassemble the HDD, CD/DVD
 Partition and Format HDD
 Use of different HDD tools
Definition of a Hard Disk
For Many users, the hard disk drive is the most important and yet the most mysterious part of a
computer system. A hard disk drive is a sealed unit that a PC uses for nonvolatile data storage.
Nonvolatile, or semi-permanent, storage means that the storage device retains the data even when
no power is supplied to the computer. Because the hard disk drive is expected to retain data until
deliberately erased or overwritten, the hard drive is used to store crucial programming and data. As
47
a result, when the hard disk fails, the consequences are usually very serious. To maintain, service,
and upgrade a PC system properly, you must understand how the hard disk functions.
A hard disk drive contains rigid, disk-shaped platters1, usually constructed of aluminum or glass
unlike floppy disks, the platters can't bend or flex hence the term hard disk. In most hard disk
drives, you can't remove the platters, which is why they are sometimes called fixed disk drives.
Removable hard disk drives are also available. Usually, this term refers to a device in which the
entire drive unit (that is, the disk unit containing the platters as well as the rest of the drive) is
removable, but it can also refer to cartridge drives, where the platters are contained in a removable
cartridge.
Hard Disk Drive Operation
The basic physical construction of a hard disk drive consists of spinning disks with heads that
move over the disks and store data in tracks2 and sectors3. The heads read and write data in
concentric rings called tracks, which are divided into segments called sectors, which typically store
512 bytes each
Figure 6.0 track and sectors
Hard disk drives usually have multiple disks, called platters, that are stacked on top of each other
and spin in unison, each with two sides on which the drive stores data. Most drives have two or
three platters, resulting in four or six sides, but some PC hard disks have up to 12 platters and 24
sides with 24 heads to read them (Seagate Barracuda 180). The identically aligned tracks on each
side of every platter together make up a cylinder4 a hard disk drive usually has one head per platter
side, with all the heads mounted on a common carrier device or rack. The heads move radially
across the disk in unison, they can't move independently because they are mounted on the same
carrier or rack, called an actuator.
48
Originally, most hard disks spun at 3,600rpm approximately5, now, however, most drives spin
even faster. Although speeds can vary, modern drives typically spin the platters at either 4,200rpm;
5,400rpm; 7,200rpm; 10,000rpm; or 15,000rpm.
Figure 6.1 HDD Components
An Overview of the IDE Interface
The interface6 used to connect hard disk and optical drives to a modern PC is typically called IDE
(Integrated Drive Electronics). Although ATA (Advance Technology Attachment) is the official
name of the interface, IDE is a marketing term originated by some of the drive manufacturers to
describe the drive/controller combination used in drives with the ATA interface.
ATA was originally a 16-bit parallel interface, meaning that 16 bits are transmitted simultaneously
down the interface cable. A newer interface, called Serial ATA, was officially introduced in late
2000 and was adopted in desktop systems starting in 2003 and in laptops starting in late 2005.
Serial ATA (SATA) sends 1 bit down the cable at a time, enabling thinner and smaller cables to be
used, as well as providing higher performance due to the higher cycling speeds it enables. SATA is
a completely new and updated physical interface design, while remaining compatible on the
software level with Parallel ATA. Throughout this book, ATA refers to either just the parallel or
both the parallel and serial versions, whereas Parallel ATA (PATA) refers specifically to the
parallel version and Serial ATA (SATA) refers specifically to the serial version.
49
Figure 6.2 Interfaces
Parallel ATA I/O Connector
The parallel ATA interface connector is normally a 40-pin header-type connector with pins spaced
0.1" (2.54mm) apart, and generally it is keyed to prevent the possibility of installing it upside
down. To create a keyed connector, the manufacturer usually removes pin 20 from the male
connector and blocks pin 20 on the female cable connector, which prevents the user from installing
the cable backward.
Figure 6 .3 Parallel ATA
50
Disk Formatting
Two formatting7 procedures are required before you can write user data to a disk:
 Physical, or low-level formatting

 Logical, or high-level formatting
A hard disk, however, requires two separate formatting operations. Moreover, a hard disk requires
a third step, between the two formatting procedures, to write the partitioning information to the
disk. Partitioning is required because a hard disk is designed to be used with more than one
operating system. Using multiple operating systems on one hard drive is possible by separating the
physical formatting in a procedure that is always the same, regardless of the operating system used
and the high-level format (which is different for each operating system). Partitioning enables a
single hard disk drive to run more than one type of operating system, or it can enable a single
operating system to use the disk as several volumes or logical drives. A volume or logical drive is
any section of the disk to which the operating system assigns a drive letter or name.
Consequently, preparing a hard disk drive for data storage involves three steps:
1. Low-Level Formatting
2. Partitioning
3. High-Level Formatting
Low-Level Formatting
During a low-level format, the formatting program divides the disk's tracks into a specific number
of sectors, creating the intersector and intertrack gaps and recording the sector header and trailer
information. The program also fills each sector's data area with a dummy byte value or a pattern of
test values. For hard disks, the number of sectors per track depends on the drive and the controller
interface.
The original ST-506/412 MFM controllers always placed 17 sectors per track on a disk, although
ST-506/412 controllers with RLL encoding increased the number of sectors to 25 or 26 per track;
ESDI drives had 32 or more sectors per track. The ATA/IDE and SCSI drives found in PCs today
can have anywhere from 17 to 900 or more sectors per track.
New Hard Disk Drives comes with ready LLF
Partitioning
Creating a partition8 on a hard disk drive enables it to support separate file systems, each in its own
partition.
Each file system can then use its own method to allocate file space in logical units called clusters
or allocation units. Every hard disk drive must have at least one partition on it and can have up to
four partitions, each of which can support the same or different type file systems. Three common
file systems are used by PC operating systems today:
 FAT9 (file allocation table). The standard file system supported by DOS and Windows
9x/Me. FAT partitions support filenames of 11 characters maximum (8 characters + a 3-
character extension) under DOS, and 255 characters under Windows 9x (or later). The
51
standard FAT file system uses 12- or 16-bit numbers to identify clusters, resulting in a
maximum volume size of 2GB.
Using FDISK, you can create only two physical FAT partitions on a hard disk drive
primary and extended but you can subdivide the extended partition into as many as 25
logical volumes. Alternative partitioning programs, such as Partition Magic, can create up
to four primary partitions or three primary and one extended.
 FAT32 (file allocation table, 32-bit). An optional file system supported by Windows 95
OSR2 (OEM Service Release 2), Windows 98, Windows Me, and Windows 2000/XP.
FAT32 uses 32-bit numbers to identify clusters, resulting in a maximum single volume size
of 2TB or 2,048GB.
 NTFS (Windows NT File System). The native file system for Windows NT/2000/XP that
supports filenames up to 256 characters long and partitions up to (a theoretical) 16
exabytes. NTFS also provides extended attributes and file system security features that do
not exist in the FAT file system.
Up until the release of XP, FAT32 was by far the most popular file system. Because NTFS is
native to XP, NTFS is now more popular in newer systems. Still, the FAT file system is accessible
by nearly every operating system, which makes it the most compatible in a mixed OS environment.
FAT32 and NTFS provide additional features but are not universally accessible by other operating
systems.
Partitioning normally is accomplished by running the disk partitioning program that comes with
your operating system or you can download free Disk Mangers. You usually should have as few
partitions as possible, and many people (myself included) try to stick with only one or two at the
most. This was more difficult before FAT32 because the maximum partition size for a FAT16
partition was only 2GB. With FAT32, though, the maximum partition size can be up to 2048GB.
High-Level Formatting
During the high-level format, the operating system writes the structures necessary for managing
files and data on the disk. For example, FAT partitions have a Volume Boot Sector (VBS), two
copies of a file allocation table (FAT), and a root directory on each formatted logical drive. These
data structures enable the operating system to manage the space on the disk, keep track of files,
and even manage defective areas so they do not cause problems.
High-level formatting is not really a physical formatting of the drive, but rather the creation of a
table of contents for the disk. In low-level formatting, which is the real physical formatting
process, tracks and sectors are written on the disk. As mentioned, the DOS and Windows 9x/Me
FORMAT command can perform both low-level and high-level format operations on a floppy disk,
but it performs only the high-level format for a hard disk. Low-level formats of ATA and SCSI
hard disk drives are performed by the manufacturer and should almost never be performed by the
end user. The only time I low-level format ATA or SCSI drives is when I am attempting to repair a
format that has become damaged (parts of the disk become unreadable) or in some cases when I
want to wipe away all data on the drive.
52
Hard Disk Partitioning and Formatting
It can be done as follows
1. Using Disk manager program specific to HDD manufacturer

2. Using Operating System Disc.
3. Disk Partitioning and formatting Utilities.
Hard Disk Drive Form Factors
Form factor Width (mm) Largest capacity Platters (max) Per platter (GB)
3.5″ 102 4 TB (2011) 5 1000 GB
2.5″ 69.9 2 TB (2012) 4 500 GB
1.8″ 54 320 GB (2009) 2 160 GB
Figure 6.4 HDD 1.8 “2.5” and 3.5”
HDD 2.5” and 1.8” are used in Notebook and Laptop Computers and 3.5” in Desktop Computers.
53
HDD Features
 Capacity
 Performance
 Reliability
Capacity11
How big a hard drive you can use depends somewhat on the interface you choose. Although the
ATA interface is by far the most popular interface for hard drives, SCSI interface drives are also
available. Each has different limitations, but those of ATA have always been lower than those of
SCSI.
If your motherboard ROM BIOS dates before 1998 and is limited to 8.4GB or dates before 2002
and is limited to 137GB, and you want to install a larger drive, I recommend you first contact your
motherboard (or system) manufacturer to see whether an update is available. Virtually all
motherboards incorporate a flash ROM, which allows for easy updates via a utility program.
Internal ATA drives larger than 137GB require 48-bit logical block address (LBA) support. This
support must be provided in the operating system; it can also be provided in the BIOS, or both. It is
best if both the OS and the BIOS support it, but it can be made to work if only the OS has the
support.
48-bit LBA support in the OS requires
 Windows XP with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later.

 Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 (SP4) or later.
 Windows 98/98SE/Me or NT 4.0 with the Intel Application Accelerator (IAA) loaded. This
solution works only if your motherboard has an IAA-supported chipset
Performance12
When you select a hard disk drive, one of the important features you should consider is the
performance (speed) of the drive. Speed is measured in two ways.
 Transfer Rate
 Average Access Time
Don't be fooled by interface transfer rate hype, especially around ATA-133 or SATA-150. A far
more important gauge of a drive's performance is the average media transfer rate, which is
significantly lower than the interface rate of 133MBps or 150MBps. The media transfer rate
represents the average speed at which the drive can actually read or write data. The rotational
speed of the drive has the biggest effect on the drive's true transfer speed; in general, drives that
spin at 10,000rpm transfer data faster than 7,200rpm drives, and 7,200rpm drives transfer data
faster than those that spin at 5,400rpm. Media transfer rates have minimum and maximum figures
because drives today use zoned recording with fewer sectors per track on the inner cylinders than
the outer cylinders.
When you know the sector per track (SPT) and rotational speed figures, you can use the following
formula to determine the true media data transfer rate in millions of bytes per second (MBps):
54
Media Transfer Rate (MBps) = SPTx512 bytes x rpm/60 seconds/1,000,000 bytes
For example, the Hitachi Deskstar 120GXP drive spins at 7,200rpm and has an average of 688
sectors per track. The average media transfer rate for this drive is figured as follows:
688x512x(7,200/60)/1,000,000 = 42.27MBps
Average seek time, usually measured in milliseconds (ms), is the average amount of time it takes
to move the heads from one cylinder to another a random distance away.
Latency is the average time (in milliseconds) it takes for a sector to be available after the heads
have reached a track. On average, this figure is half the time it takes for the disk to rotate once. A
drive that spins twice as fast would have half the latency.
Drives today spin at 7,200rpm, resulting in a latency time of only 4.17ms, whereas others spin at
10,000rpm or even 15,000rpm, resulting in incredible 3.00ms or 2.00ms.
Average Access Time
A measurement of a drive's average access time is the sum of its average seek time plus latency.
The average access time is usually expressed in milliseconds.
A measurement of a drive's average access time (average seek time plus latency) provides the
average total amount of time required for the drive to access a randomly requested sector.
Reliability13
Mean time Between Failures (MTBF) is used to measure the reliability of the drive. MTBF is the
failure rate for previous drive models with the same components and calculate a failure rate for a
new drive based on the components used to build the drive assembly. If a drive claims to have an
MTBF of 500,000 hours, you can expect a failure in that population of drives in 500,000 hours of
total running time.
Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART) is an industry standard providing

failure prediction for disk drives. When SMART is enabled for a given drive, the drive monitors
predetermined attributes that are susceptible to or indicative of drive degradation. Based on
changes in the monitored attributes, a failure prediction can be made. If a failure is deemed likely
to occur, SMART makes a status report available so the system BIOS or driver software can notify
the user of the impending problems, perhaps enabling the user to back up the data on the drive
before any real problems occur.
Solid State Drives14
Also known as electronic disk uses integrated circuit (ICs) assembles as memories. Uses NAND
based flash technology. There are no electro-mechanical components like magnetic HDD, which
makes it faster with lower access time and latency time. It produces no noise from the drive and
less vulnerable to shock.
As previously mentioned, SSDs use NAND flash technology. Two subtypes of this technology are
used in commercially available SSDs: SLC (single-level cell) and MLC (multilevel cell). SLC
flash stores 1 bit in a single cell, whereas MLC stores 2 or more bits in a single cell. MLC doubles
55
(or more) the density, and consequently lowers the cost, but this comes at a penalty in performance
and usable life. SSDs are available using either technology, with SLC versions offering higher
performance, lower capacity, and higher cost. Most mainstream SSDs use MLC technology.
Whereas more specialized high-end products (mostly for server or workstation systems) use SLC.
Available in form factors like 1.8 and 2.5 inch and a wide range of capacities 40GB, 80GB,
120GB, 160GB, 300GB, or 600GB capacity. Interfaces used by SSD are SATA and PCIe (card
based).
Intel has released range of SSDs given below are few.
SSD Capacity Read/Write Form Factor

Intel 320 series SSD 600 GB 200 MB/s 45 MB/s 2.5 inch 1.8 inch SATA
Intel 710 series SSD 300 GB 270 MB/s 210 MB/s 2.5 inch SATA
Intel 910 series SSD 800 GB 2 GB/s 1GB/s PCIe card
Intel P3608 series 1.6 TB 5000 MB/s PCIe AIC
Figure 6.5 Intel SSD 320 Figure 6.6 SSD 910 PCIe
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface Drives are high performance and capacity drives used in servers
and high-end workstations even if you plan to use more than 4 drives SCSI is more suitable.
Interfaces and transfer rates of SCSI
SCSI type Data Transfer Rate

SCSI 1 5 MB/s
SCSI 2 10 MB/s
SCSI 3 20MB/s to 160 MB/s
Serial Attached 2.0 SCSI 600 MB/s
FC-AL SCSI (Fiber Channel 100 MB/s to 400 MB/s
Arbitrated Loop)
iSCSI (internet SCSI) Base on Network speed
56
Safety
Turn-off power
Disassemble Hard Disk Drive carefully
Place HDD on safe area
Terminologies
29. Platters ‫صحون‬

30. Track ‫المسارات‬
31. Sector ‫القطاعات‬
32. Cylinder ‫أسطوانة‬
33. Approximately ‫ما يقرب من‬
34. Interface ‫وسيط‬
35. Formatting ‫التنسيق‬
36. Partition ‫قسم‬
37. FAT (File Allocation Table)
38. Manufacturer ‫جدول تخصيص الملفات‬
39. Capacity ‫سعة‬
40. Performance ‫إنجاز‬
41. Reliability ‫صالبة‬
42. Solid state drives
57
Chapter 7
Primary Memories
Objectives
 Understand Primary Memory
 Identify Different Memories and their Specifications
 Install and Upgrade Memories
 Troubleshoot Memories
58
Memory1 of computer is a storage area and there are many types of memories with different
purpose. Basically we can categorize memory in to Main memory and Secondary memory.
Main Memories2
 RAM
 ROM
 Cache
Secondary Memories3 (Secondary Storages)
 Hard disk
 CD/DVD disk
 Floppy
 USB Drive (pen drive, flash drive)
 Tape Drive
Main Memory: is the workspace for the computer's processor where the programs and data being
operated on by the processor must reside. Main memory can also be referred as Primary Memory.
Secondary Memory: is the storage area, where we store the data for a long time.
Why we need different types of memories in our computer?
When processor wants to perform any job it needs program (instructions) and Data, programs like
windows operating system, Microsoft word etc. Data like files and folders. All of the programs and
Data reside in the permanent secondary storage device (Hard disk) transferring data between hard
disk and processor is logical because processor bus and hard disk data transfer rates are quite
different.
For example Pentium 4 processor with bus speed 800 MHz means transfers 6400 MBps and a
Hard disk 133 MBps .RAM and Cache are used to improve the performance. Speed of RAM is
nearly equal to processor bus speed and cache runs at the same speed of processor bus.
Figure given below illustrate you the concept of data path4.
Figure 7.1 Data path

RAM means Random Access Memory it is also known as Primary memory or main memory all
the programs and data reside here in this memory while your computer is running.
59
RAM Technologies
Dynamic RAM (DRAM) is the type of memory chip used for most of the main memory in a
modern PC. The main advantages of DRAM are that it is very dense, meaning you can pack a lot
of bits into a very small chip, and it is inexpensive, which makes purchasing large amounts of
memory affordable.
The memory cells in a DRAM chip are tiny capacitors that retain a charge to indicate a bit. The
problem with DRAM is that it is dynamic. Also, because of the design, it must be constantly
refreshed; otherwise, the electrical charges in the individual memory capacitors will drain and the
data will be lost. Refresh time is 15ms (milliseconds).
Static RAM (SRAM) it is significantly faster than most types of DRAM. SRAM stands for static
RAM, which is so named because it does not need the periodic refresh rates like DRAM. Because
of how SRAMs are designed, not only are refresh rates unnecessary, but SRAM is much faster
than DRAM and much more capable of keeping pace with modern processors.
Fast Page Mode RAM (FPM RAM) it uses Paging which enables faster access to all the data
within a given row of memory by keeping the row address the same and changing only the
column. Memory that uses this technique is called Page Mode or Fast Page Mode memory.
Extended Data out RAM a modified form of FPM memory,
SDRAM
SDRAM is short for synchronous DRAM, a type of DRAM that runs in synchronization with the
memory bus. SDRAM delivers information in very high-speed bursts using a high-speed, clocked
interface. SDRAM removes most of the latency involved in asynchronous DRAM because the
signals are already in synchronization with the motherboard clock.
DDR SDRAM
Double Data Rate (DDR) SDRAM memory is the upgrade of standard SDRAM in which data is
transferred twice as quickly. Instead of doubling the actual clock rate, DDR memory achieves the
doubling in performance by transferring twice per transfer cycle, once at the leading (falling) edge
and once at the trailing (rising) edge of the cycle.
Figure 7.2 SDR DDR cycling
DDR SDRAM uses a DIMM (Dual inline Memory module) module design with 184 pins.
Types of standard DDR SDRAM modules
60
Module Chip Clock Cycles per Bus Speed Bus Width Transfer
Standard Type Speed Clock (MT/s) (Bytes) Rate (MBps)
(MHz)
PC1600 DDR200 100 2 200 8 1,600
PC2100 DDR266 133 2 266 8 2,133
PC2400 DDR300 150 2 300 8 2,400
PC2700 DDR333 166 2 333 8 2,667
PC3000 DDR366 183 2 366 8 2,933
PC3200 DDR400 200 2 400 8 3,200
PC3500 DDR433 216 2 433 8 3,466
PC3700 DDR466 233 2 466 8 3,733
PC4000 DDR500 250 2 500 8 4,000
PC4200 DDR533 266 2 533 8 4,266
MT/s = Mega transfers per second
MBps = Megabytes per second
DIMM = Dual inline memory module
DDR = Double data rate
DDR2 SDRAM
DDR2 SDRAM is simply a faster version of conventional DDR-SDRAM memory: It achieves
higher throughput by using differential pairs of signal wires to allow faster signaling without noise
and interference problems. DDR2 is still double data rate just as with DDR, but the modified
signaling method enables higher speeds to be achieved with more immunity to noise and cross-talk
between the signals. It uses lower voltage than conventional DDR.
DDR2 memory module designs incorporate 240 pins, significantly more than conventional DDR
or standard SDRAM DIMMs.
Module Chip Type Clock Cycles Bus Speed Bus Width Transfer Rate
Standard Speed per (MT/s) (Bytes) (MBps)
(MHz) Clock
PC2-3200 DDR2-400 200 2 400 8 3,200
PC2-4200 DDR2-533 266 2 533 8 4,266
PC2-5300 DDR2-667 333 2 667 8 5,333
PC2-6000 DDR2-750 375 2 750 8 6,000
PC2-6400 DDR2-800 400 2 800 8 6,400
PC2-7200 DDR2-900 450 2 900 8 7,200
PC2-8000 DDR2-1000 500 2 1000 8 8,000
61
DDR3 SDRAM is an improvement over its predecessor, DDR2 SDRAM, and the two are not
compatible. DDR3 memory provides a reduction in power consumption of 30% compared
to DDR2 modules. DDR3 DIMMS have 240 pins as DDR2 but with different key notch location.
Module Chip Type Clock Cycles Bus Speed Bus Width Transfer Rate
Standard Speed per (MT/s) (Bytes) (MBps)
(MHz) Clock
PC3-6400 DDR3-800 400 2 800 8 6400
PC3-8500 DDR3-1066 533 2 1066 8 8533
PC3-10600 DDR3-1333 667 2 1333 8 10667
PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 800 2 1600 8 12800
Typically DDR memory modules operate at different voltages, and have different number of
pins.
DDR 2.5 V Memory Module Number of Pins
DDR2 1.8 V DDR 184
DDR3 1.5 V DDR2 240
RDRAM 2.5 V DDR3 240
RDRAM 168
DDR4 1.2V
DDR4 260 / 288
Figure 7.3 Key notch locations for DDR memories
The speed and performance issue with memory is confusing to some because memory speed is
usually expressed in ns (nanoseconds) and processor speed has always been expressed in MHz
(megahertz). Recently, however, some newer and faster types of memory have speeds expressed in
MHz, adding to the confusion. Fortunately, you can translate one to the other.
A nanosecond is defined as one billionth of a second.

Megahertz (MHz) which is millions of cycles per second, and gigahertz (GHz) which is billions of
cycles per second.
To convert access time in nanoseconds to MHz, use the following formula:
1 / nanoseconds x 1000 = MHz
Likewise, to convert from MHz to nanoseconds, use the following inverse formula:
1 / MHz x 1000 = nanoseconds
62
DDR3L: is the DDR3 Low Voltage Specification its standard voltage is 1.3V
DDR3U: is the DDR3 Low Voltage Specification its standard voltage is 1.2V
DDR4 SDRAM
Module Standard Chip Type Clock Bus Speed (MT/s) Transfer Rate (MBps)
Speed
(MHz)
PC4-17000 DDR4-2133 2133 2133 17000
PC4-19200 DDR4-2400 2400 2400 19200
RDRAM
Rambus DRAM (RDRAM) on the other hand, are narrow-channel devices. They transfer data only
16 bits (2 bytes) at a time (plus 2 optional parity bits), but at much faster speeds. This is a shift
away from a more parallel to a more serial design and is similar to what is happening with other
evolving buses in the PC.
RDRAM DIMMS have 168 pins, RDRAM runs on only 2.5 volts.
Figure 7.4 RDRAM key Notches
The design of many common Rambus memory controllers dictated that memory sticks be installed
in sets of two. Any remaining open memory slots must be filled with CRIMMs (Continuity
Rambus Inline Memory Module). These sticks provide no extra memory, and only served to
propagate the signal to termination resistors on the motherboard instead of providing a dead end
where signals would reflect.
Figure 7.5 Rambus DRAM
63
Module Chip Clock Cycles Bus Speed Bus Width Transfer

Standard Type Speed per Clock (MT/s) (Bytes) Rate (MBps)
(MHz)
RIMM1200 PC600 300 2 600 2 1,200
RIMM1400 PC700 350 2 700 2 1,400
RIMM1600 PC800 400 2 800 2 1,600
RIMM2100 PC1066 533 2 1,066 2 2,133
RIMM2400 PC1200 600 2 1,200 2 2,400
RIMM3200 PC800 400 2 800 4 3,200
RIMM4200 PC1066 533 2 1,066 4 4,266
RIMM4800 PC1200 600 2 1,200 4 4,800
CAS Latency (Column Address Strobe)

Latency is the time the memory controller must wait between requesting a data and the actual
delivery of them. It is also known as CAS (Column Address Strobe) Latency or simply CL. This
number is expressed in terms of clock cycles.
For example, a memory with CL3 means that the memory controller must wait three clock cycles
until data is delivered after a request is made. With a memory with CL5 the memory controller will
have to wait more: five clock cycles. So you always should look for the memory modules with the
lowest latency possible.
Technology Typical Latency Other Common Latencies Available

DDR 3 2, 2.5
DDR2 5 3, 4
DDR3 7 6, 8, 9
Cache Memory
A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit of a computer to reduce the average
time to access memory. The cache is a smaller, faster memory which stores copies of the data from
the most frequently used main memory locations. As long as most memory accesses are cached
memory locations, the average latency of memory accesses will be closer to the cache latency than
to the latency of main memory.
To minimize the processor being forced to read data from the slow main memory, two or three
stages of cache usually exist in a modern system, called Level 1 (L1), Level 2 (L2), and Level 3
(L3). The L1 cache is also called integral or internal cache because it has always been built directly
into the processor as part of the processor die (the raw chip). Because of this, L1 cache always runs
at the full speed of the processor core and is the fastest cache in any system. All 486 and higher
processors incorporate integral L1 cache, making them significantly faster than their predecessors.
L2 cache was originally called external cache because it was external to the processor chip when it
first appeared. Originally, this meant it was installed on the motherboard, as was the case with all
386, 486, and Pentium systems. In those systems, the L2 cache runs at motherboard and CPU bus
speed because it is installed on the motherboard and is connected to the CPU bus. You typically
find the L2 cache directly next to the processor socket in Pentium and earlier systems.
L3 cache has been present in high-end workstation and server processors such as the Xeon and
Itanium families since 2001. The first desktop PC processor with L3 cache was the Pentium 4
Extreme Edition, a high-end chip introduced in late 2003 with 2MB of on-die L3 cache.
64
Read Only Memory (ROM)
Read-only memory, or ROM, is a type of memory that can permanently or semi permanently store
data. It is called read-only because it is either impossible or difficult to write to. ROM also is often
referred to as nonvolatile memory because any data stored in ROM remains there, even if the
power is turned off.
ROM chip contains the following programs
 BIOS
 POST Program
 BootStrap Loader
BIOS is a term that stands for basic input/output system, which consists of low-level software that
controls the system hardware and acts as an interface between the operating system and the
hardware. Most people know the term BIOS by another name device drivers, or just drivers. In
other words, the BIOS is drivers, meaning all of them. BIOS is essentially the link between
hardware and software in a system.
POST is a term that stands for Power On Self Test it checks out the system every time system
boots. If there is a problem in any of the components of the system POST Conveys information
about the problem in two ways one is Beep codes and Second through text messages. (beep codes
are available in beep code sheet)
BootStrap Loader program was designed to initiate the loading of an OS from the Hard disc or
CD/DVD disc or any other device.
ROM Chip Types
The four main types of ROM chips that have been used in PCs are as follows:
 ROM. Read-only memory

 PROM. Programmable ROM
 EPROM. Erasable PROM
 EEPROM. Electrically erasable PROM, also sometimes called a flash ROM
Figure 7.6 ROM
65
Upgrade5 BIOS
Update the BIOS to fix bugs, add compatibility with new devices, improve caching functions,
and make several other hardware tweaks that can speed up your boot time and fix annoying
issues. These updates are available at the motherboard manufacturer's site. But if you make
a mistake in the update process, your PC will be unbootable.
Step 1: identify the BIOS version in BIOS setting or type msinfo32 in windows Run window,
identify the motherboard model and BIOS model.
Step 2: Download Updated version of BIOS from manufacturer’s website. While
downloading, be sure about model and type of motherboard. It will be an .exe file
Step 3: close all of the applications
Step 4: Run the Installer .exe file.
Figure 7.7 msinfo32

Note: Follow the instructions by manufacturer during BIOS update.
Primary Memories for Laptop/Notebook Computer

Laptop memories are similar in capacity and other specifications as Desktop memory. Difference
is in form-factor. It is 200 pin Small Outline DIMM.
Figure 7.8 SO-DIMM DDR2 Memory

66
Safety
Turn-off power supply
Install the memory such that memory module is completely inserted in to DIMM
slot.
If more than one module of memory is their make sure both are of same speed.
Do not apply physical force while inserting memory module in to DIMM
Terminologies
1. Memory ‫ذاكرة‬
2. Main memory ‫الذاكرة الرئيسية‬
3. Secondary memory ‫الذاكرة الثانوية‬
4. Data path ‫مسار البيانات‬
5. Upgrade ‫ترقية‬
67
Chapter 7
Operating System Setup and Installations.
Objectives
 Understand Bootable Media
 Setup and Install Single Operating System, Win XP, Win 7, Ubuntu
 Dual Operating Systems Setup and Installation.
 Device Derivers Installation and Configuration.
68
Windows 7 Setup and Installation
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
Setup and Installation Ubuntu 12.04
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
Dual Boot Windows XP and Ubuntu.

Step 1. Install Windows XP or Windows 7 with one Empty Partition or un Partition Space more than or
equal to 5GB.
Step2. Boot from Ubuntu CD/DVD and follow the steps as above except the given below.
Step3. Select something else.
103
Step 4. Select the Empty partition or delete extra partition except NTFS and prepare partition.
104

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Computer Hardware Maintenance LAB Manual CE2130 M.

Mohammed Yousuf Uddin

Experiments TITLE PAGE

Chapter 3 Power Supply and Voltage Regulatory Module 25

Chapter 4 Assemble and Disassemble the PC 31

Chapter 5 Micro Processor. 38

Chapter 6 Secondary Storage Devices HDD, SDD 47

Chapter 7 Primary Memory 58

Chapter 8 Installing Windows Operating System 68

Installing Windows Operating System 95

Figure 1.1 Block Diagram of Computer

Figure 1.2 Tianhe 2 Supercomputer

Figure 1.3 Shaheen 2 Supercomputer

Figure 1.4IBM System Z

Figure 1.5 Dell T7910

Figure 1.6 Desktop Computer

Figure 1.7 Laptop Computer

Figure 1.8 HP PDA

Figure 1.9 Apple iPad

Components of a Personal Computer

Figure 1.10 Components of Personal Computer

Components inside the System Case

Processor Socket: processor is installed in this socket.

Figure 1.11 Intel DX50Mother Board

Figure 1.12 Chipset

Back-Panel9 Display Connector (VGA) PS/2 Mouse and Keyboard RJ 45 Network

The PC Case or System Case

Figure 2.1 PC Case Tower PC Case Desktop or Low Profile

Form Factors of Motherboard

Main Components of Motherboard

 Land Grid Array (LGA) (socket T)

 Ball Grid Array (BGA)

 Flip Chip PGA

Figure 2.2 Processor Sockets

Primary Memory Slots

 172-pin MicroDIMM, used for DDR SDRAM

Figure 2.3 Memory Slot

2. Through Device manager: click Start » click Control Panel » double-click

Figure 2.4 Chipset Model

P965 82P965 (MCH) ICH8/ICH8R/ICH8- Pentium Dual- 533/800/1066 MHz DDR2

H55 BD82H55 (PCH) SLGZX(B3) Core i3/i5/i7 2 GB/s DMI

QS77 BD82QS77 SLJ8B(C1) Core i3/i5/i7 4 GB/s DMI

Figure 2.5 Chipset Block Diagram

Figure 2.6 Quartz Oscillator

BIOS: Basic Input Output System

ROM BIOS and Device Drivers

CMOS: Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor is another type of firmware,

Figure 2.8 CMOS Battery

 Better security by helping to protect the pre-startup—or pre-boot—process

Mother Board Connectors

 External Connection: Components external to the system case are connected

133 MB/s (32-bit at 33 MHz)

266 MB/s (32-bit at 66 MHz or 64-

533 MB/s (64-bit at 66 MHz)

Figure 2.9 PCI Slot

Figure 2.10 PCI E Slots

PCI Express Version Transfer Rate Bandwidth in x16

1.0 2.5 GT/s 32 Gbit/s or 4 GB/s

2.0 5 GT/s 64 Gbit/s or 8 GB/s

3.0 8 GT/s 126 Gbit/s or 15.7 GB/s

4.0 16 GT/s 252 Gbit/s or 31.5 GB/s

4 Pin Molex Connector This is used to power various

20 Pin Molex ATX Power Connector This is used to power

Core i3 SLBQC (C2) 2133 MHz 2256 KB 3 MB 2 BGA 2DDR3 January 7

Core i3 6300 HD530 3.8GHz 2256 KB 4 MB 2 LGA 2DDR4 September